Saturday, December 29, 2012

Entry 151: Little Big News

The big news is that my brother and his wife had their first child a few days ago.  It's a boy!  Welcome to this world Lil' Q, which is what I shall call you in this blog henceforth.  Lil' Q is only little in the sense that all babies are little; compared to other newborns he's quite big, just two oz. shy of 10 lbs.  He's literally twice as heavy as Lil' S was when he was born.  Even today Lil' S isn't that much heavier; he went to the doctor yesterday, and now four months old, he weighs 13 lbs.  That's a bit on the light side, but nothing unhealthy, it's right around the start of the second quartile.  He's 26 inches long which puts him in the 90th percentile in length -- a little beanpole.

Anyway, congrats to my bro and sis-in-law.

[Big Baby]

In other news, the holiday season is quickly passing us by in what seems like a blur.  S and I didn't really celebrate anything this year, because it was just us on Christmas Day (S's family came to visit for a few days from SC, but they left on Christmas Morning to avoid holiday traffic).  Also, neither of us are Christian, and Lil' S is still too young to care about much of anything outside of drooling, so there's no need yet to do anything on his behalf.

We were invited to a New Year's Eve party, but we aren't going.  It's not really a kid-friendly type of deal, and it's too much hassle and expense to find a babysitter.  Plus, S has trouble staying up past 10:00, making it to midnight is just too much to ask.  We are going to a holiday party tomorrow, but I'm not super excited about it.  Who plans a party on a Sunday the last week of the football season?  Non-Americans, that's who.  The party is being throw by S's coworker, and in her line of work there are a lot of international people.  They don't get what a faux pas they're committing by having a party at a time when the nation should all be at home watching the NFL playoff races unfold.  Well, at least the Seahawks clinched a postseason spot last week.  If they hadn't, I have a feeling my marriage would really be put to the test tomorrow.


[I have this theory that Russell Wilson looks like a combination between Michael from "The Wire", and that Rutgers student who got in trouble for spying on his gay roommate.  What do you think?]



I think we'll have to bring something to this party too, so tack on some extra time and effort for that.  S bought a bunch of samosas yesterday at the India Store to bring, but I'm not sure what she was thinking.  Samosas are fried, and crispy, and flaky, that's what makes them delicious.  If you store them in the fridge for two days they are going to be soggy and congealed and gross.  Well, maybe not gross, but not nearly as good as when they're fresh -- certainly not bring-to-a-party worthy.  I said this to S, and her response was that she'd leave them out for two days.  When I said this would be worse because they'd probably go bad, like bad bad, like grow mold or something, she just kinda shrugged her shoulders.  So now we have a dozen samosas in our fridge that I'm not sure what we're going to do with.  S does this sometimes.  Her food forethought isn't always on point.  Several times she's brought home a huge bunch of ripe bananas, and since bananas go bad pretty quickly we'd eat a few of them, and then have to chuck the rest.  I got on her case about it (I hate wasting food), so then the next time she comes home with a giant bunch of completely green bananas.  Great, so in a few days they'll all be ripe, and then we're just going to have the same problem.  I noticed that on her latest run, she again got green bananas, but just a few this time, so she's getting better I think.

[That shit's bananas]

 Anyway...

I took the last week off and don't have to be back at work until Wednesday.  It's a nice little vacation for me, but with a four-month old in the house, time-off just isn't what it used to be.  We got spoiled by having S's mom stay with us for so long (she went back to SC on Christmas Day with the rest of the family).  She doted on her grandson constantly and really took a lot of the burden off us.  Now we're really realizing how energy-sapping raising an infant is.  I'll be happy when Lil' S is a bit older and can entertain himself even for just a few minutes -- a half hour here and there is all I ask.  He's at a stage where if somebody isn't constantly paying attention to him he starts to whine, and if you don't do something about his whine then it turns into a full-on blood-curdling cry.  And somehow he knows if you're trying to multitask, and he doesn't like it.  I tried to hold him and read at the same time, and he wasn't having any of it.  The only saving grace is that he naps a decent amount (he's napping right now).  But then you have to tiptoe around the house trying to get everything done before he wakes up.  It's like you can hear the *tick-tick-tick* in your head.  But, I'm sure we should just try to enjoy this time with him now, as when he's older we'll probably look back misty-eyed and wonder what happened to our little baby.

OK, that's all I have time for this week.  Until next time...

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Entry 150: Twelve Days of Xmas, 6-1

This is part two of my yuletide-theme entry.

There has been a lot of attention on gun control recently, and I couldn't resist forever the urge to expound on the topic.  So for the Sixth Day of Xmas, I give you...

Day 6: Six Takedowns of Common Pro-Gun Arguments

6.  Guns Don't Kill People, People Kill People
A classic.  But it's not a particularly strong argument.  Logically it fails, because it leads immediately to justifying possession of any weapon of any destructive power.  (Atomic bombs don't detonate themselves... therefore it's OK for people to have atomic bombs?)  Practically it fails because people use guns to kill many more people than they could otherwise.

5.  The Second Amendment
Obviously, it's a little outdated, I mean, how many people do you know who are in a militia?
"Hey, Steve, I've got a great idea for you.  You know what we should start one of these days?"
"A blog about our favorite TV shows?"
"No, a militia."
That's a conversation I've never overheard at a party.  Also, the second amendment just says "arms", it doesn't say assault rifles, it doesn't even say guns.  If our government ever becomes really liberal and really snarky, we should allow people to only own firearms that were in existence in 1787.  Then when some psycho tries to tee off on people with a muzzle-loading musket, somebody can just tackle him after his first shot.



4.  Everybody In Switzerland Has a Gun and They Have Little Gun Violence
Switzerland's gun ownership, per capita, is nearly half ours, so right away this argument is a nonstarter.  But let's go on anyway.  Switzerland is a country of $8 million people with little poverty.  The U.S. is a country of $300 million people with a good deal of poverty.  Swiss citizens are required to have health insurance (they have something similar to Obamacare, from what I can tell), and presumably they have ready access to mental health resources.  Also, Switzerland doesn't have a traditional army, so they arm and train (this part is key) their citizens for national defense.  This is much, much different than allowing any schlub off the street to buy a semi-automatic AK 47 just for kicks.

3.  If More Sane People Had Guns the Insane People Wouldn't Get Off as Many Shots
Maybe.  And maybe if more people had guns, many more clusterfuck shootouts would occur, and many more people would be accidentally killed.  Sane doesn't mean safe.  Think about the people you know -- your 20-year old neighbors who set off the smoke alarm, because they were barbecuing inside their apartment; your coworker who brags about how much he drinks and drives; your friend who freaks out if she has to parallel park; your buddy from high school who always wanted to be a cop, but got rejected from the force three times* -- would you really feel safer knowing these people were packing?

Also, society doesn't work like the WWF in the mid-'80s.  It's not always obvious who's good and who's bad.  There isn't a perfect delineation between sane and insane.  This binary categorization of good and evil is a very simpleminded and wrongheaded worldview.  "Good" people will do "insane" things in stressful, chaotic situations.  Especially ones for which they have no training or practice in handling.  This idea that more guns will somehow make our society safer, because we "good guys" will all be protecting each other like trained law enforcers is the real insanity, if you ask me.  Quasi-vigilante justice is not the answer, just ask Trayvon Martin... oh, wait, never mind...     

*These are all real people I once knew.

2.  Cars Kill More People than Guns Should We Ban Cars?
Well, actually, I'd love it if we could structure society in such a way that we wouldn't need cars, but since that seems quite farfetched, no, we shouldn't ban cars.  But we should continue to regulate them and continually strive to make them safer and try to ensure that people who are too dangerous to drive aren't driving.  You know, all the things the pro-gun control people want to do with guns.

1.  Violence Is a Societal/Mental Health Issue Not a Gun Issue
I actually mostly agree with this.  But have the gun nuts ever asked the following question: Don't you think that your mission to push guns on the American people as something perfectly normal and something not to be feared or controlled contributes negatively to our gun-crazed culture (like, say, advocating for guns in schools)?  If we treated guns with more reverence, something not so normal, something you needed permits and extensive training to obtain, don't you think gun violence would go down?  I do.  That's the thing with gun fanatics, they claim it's the culture, but by being so obstinate about the most basic regulations and by being so adamant about the virtues of guns, they're largely the ones perpetuating this culture.  If gun nuts really want to change the culture, they need to start with the man in the mirror. 

As for the mental health issue.  OK, fine, then let's do the following: levy a modest tax on ammunition and use it to fund mental health programs.  We could put more trained mental health professionals in schools and workplaces to educate people and catch early warning signs.  Surely the NRA will support this.  If it's really a mental health problem, and they're really committed to a solution then they'll be behind a measure like this 100%, right?  Right, and I'm going to get a wise-cracking teddy bear for Christmas.*

*I watched the movie Ted last night -- stupid, but hysterical.   


[It's a joke, but we should seriously think about moving along these lines.]

Alright, on to the other five days.

Day 5: Five Super-Christian Celebrities
5.  Kirk Cameron, actor/former teen idol.
4.  Kurt Warner, former NFL quarterback/former supermarket employee.
3.  Mel Gibson, actor/anti-Semite.
2.  Ted Haggard, pastor/"recovering" homosexual.
1.  Stephen Baldwin, actor/extreme sports enthusiast (720s for Jesus, bra!).


 In honor of Saint Nick...

Day 4: Four Famous People Named Nick Who Are Very Unlikely to Ever be Sainted

4. Nick Swardson (Unless starring in a movie that scores 0% on the movie rating site Rotten Tomatoes is deemed a miracle.)
3.  Nick Cave
2.  Nick Van Exel  (Although his sweet lefty j was divine.)
1.  Nick Nolte



Since Christmas parties are notoriously good times for wearing cheesy sweaters...

Day 3: Three People Known for Wearing Sweaters

3.  Jim Tressel (It's a sweater vest, but still, it counts.)
2.  Mr. Rogers
1.  Bill Cosby


    

Day 2: Two Anagrams of "MERRY CHRISTMAS" That Almost Make Sense

2.  MM, CHERRY SITARS
1.  MR T. HAS MY RICERS      

[You ain't gettin' that kitchenware back, foo'.]

Day 1: One Great Movie Set During the Christmas Season that Isn't a Christmas Movie, Per Se

1.  Die Hard

I could only think of two: Gremlins and Die Hard.  It was no contest.  Die Hard is arguably Bruce Willy's finest work.



[This is pretty good, but they left out the best part.  In the movie, Bruce Willis has a gun taped to his back.  They could've done this with the Legoman easily enough; I don't know why they didn't -- really ruins the scene for me.]

Happy Holidays!  Until next time...

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Entry 149: Twelve Days of XMas, 12-7

So this headline from The Onion pretty much sums up everybody's sentiment following yesterday's horrific news.  I had paragraphs of bombast in my brain ready go on gun control, mental health, and our obscenely violent culture, but when I started to type it all out, I got depressed, so I stopped.  Instead I'm going to write about happy things.  I'm not burying my head in the sand and pretending that evil doesn't exist, I'm just not writing about it here.  Plus, the absurd amount of media attention we give these atrocious acts is probably part of the problem -- it encourages the next round of psychopaths to go bigger and bolder.  So, my faithful five readers, I'm going in completely different, much happier direction.



It's Christmas time.  Even though I grew up in an areligious household, we celebrated Christmas, using it as a special family day.  (Recently, I got into a mini-argument with a Christian friend of mine who said she was bothered by non-Christians like me celebrating Christmas.  She said we denigrate it and illegitimatize it for true believers.  Knowing that she's extremely liberal on social issues, I sarcastically said, "Yeah, I feel like gay marriage does the same thing to straight marriage."  It was one of my better comebacks.)  Even though as I get older and older I think more and more that this Scrooge guy was on to something, a lot of great memories from my childhood are Christmas-related, so I decided to do two all Christmas blog entries in the form of "The Twelve Days of Christmas".  I'll do days 12-7 this week and 6-1 next week.

Day 12: Twelve Foods I'll Miss This Year
Instead of going back to the Sea-Tac region for Xmas like we have in the past, some family on my wife's side is coming here, which means I'll be eating Indian food for Christmas.  It'll be delicious, but I will miss the following nonetheless (in order of degree missed).

12. Turkey (our usual Xmas Eve dinner)
11. Mashed potatoes and gravy
10. Stuffing
 9.  Apple pie
 8.  Pumpkin pie
 7.  Baked ham (our usual Xmas dinner)
 6.  Deli-fresh pepperoni (always seems to be around my parents' house during the yule season)
 5.  Yams with marshmallows (only time I enjoy marshmallows with anything)
 4.  Eggnog (I suppose I could actually buy some here easily enough)
 3.  Scalloped Potatoes (much, much better than mashed potatoes and gravy -- a controversial stance, I know)
 2.  Mushroom soup (a specialty of a family friend we usually see on Christmas Eve)
 1.  Kielbasa (hand ground and wrapped by my dad)



Day 11: Twelve Non-Christmas Songs That Remind Me of Christmas
Christmas, 1991 was arguably the best Christmas from my childhood.  I had recently got my own CD player, so I asked for a bunch of CDs for Xmas.  My parents real came through on this one, buying me just about everything on my list: Nirvana, Nevermind; U2, Achtung Baby; Erasure, Chorus; Ned's Atomic Dustbin, God Fodder, just to name a few.

Also, in 1994 I made a very eclectic mixed tape featuring bands from the Beatles down to Suicidal Tendencies.  I remember listening to it every time I drove somewhere over Christmas break.   

11. "Norwegian Wood", The Beatles
10. "Right Now", Van Halen
 9.  "Head Like A Hole", Nine Inch Nails
 8.  "I Saw Your Mommy", Suicidal Tendencies
 7.  "Message in a Bottle", The Police
 6.  "The Fly", U2
 5.  "Chorus", Erasure
 4.  "Love to Hate You", Erasure
 3.  "Grey Cell Green", Ned's Atomic Dustbin
 2.  "Lithium", Nirvana
 1.  "Polly", Nirvana




Day 10: Ten Great Offensive Tecmo Super Bowl Characters
Christmas, 1991 again.  I got the best Christmas gift I've ever received -- Tecmo Super Bowl for NES.  The first sports game ever with real teams, real players, and real-time stats.  I played an entire 16-game season (plus playoffs) on Christmas day (I was the Packers), then I brought it my friend JY's house the next day, and we played another entire season together (I was the Falcons he was the 49ers).  So essentially three entire seasons were played in two days.  In total, I'd estimate I played somewhere around 50 seasons of this game in my life.  For at least 15 of them I copied the season statistics to notebook paper by hand after I finished them.  I still have the papers in a folder in a box in my basement.  Here are some great offensive characters.  I've weighted to give preference to those players whose ability on the game far outweighed their ability in real life.

10. Dwight Stone, Kick Returner, Pittsburgh Steelers
  9. Ricky Proehl, Wide Receiver, Arizona Cardinals
  8. Christian Okoye, Running Back, Kansas City Chiefs
  7. Barry Sanders, Running Back, Detroit Lions
  6. QB Eagles, Quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles
  5. Warren Moon, Quarterback, Houston Oilers
  4. Thurman Thomas, Running Back, Buffalo Bills
  3. Joe Montana, Quarterback, San Francisco 49ers
  2. Jerry Rice, Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers
  1. Bo Jackson (His skills on the game are legendary -- SO much better on the game than real life, as the clip below verifies.)



Day 9: Ten Great Defensive Tecmo Super Bowl Characters
If you couldn't tell, I really liked this game.

 9. Dave Waymer, Cornerback, San Francisco 49ers
 8. Rufus Porter, Linebacker, Seattle Seahawks
 7. Mark Carrier, Safety, Chicago Bears
 6. Charles Haley, Linebacker,  San Francisco 49ers
 5. David Fulcher, Safety, Cincinnati Bengals
 4. Cornelius Bennett, Linebacker, Buffalo Bills 
 3. Lawrence Taylor, Linebacker, New York Giants
 2. Deion Sanders, Cornerback, Atlanta Falcons
 1. Rod Woodson, Cornerback, Pittsburgh Steelers (I could dominate with the Steelers D because of him)

[Interesting factoid: Rod Woodson is depicted as a white man on Tecmo Super Bowl.]


Day 8: Eight "Great" Punny Christmas-related Crossword Puzzle Clues
I use quotes because can any pun really be considered great?

 8. Cupid's mate? (DASHER)
 7. Short winter day? (XMAS)
 6. Subordinate Clauses? (ELVES)
 5. Nick name? (CLAUS)
 4. Present time? (YULE)
 3. Winter air? (CAROL)
 2. Northern star? (SANTA)
 1. Little help? (ELF)

[A Christmas Carol?]


Day 7: Seven Christmas Songs That Remind Me of Christmas

 7. "Santa Baby", Eartha Kitt (I noticed recently that at some point in the song she asks for the "deed to a platinum mine".  That's a rather specific and grandiose request.  If you get it, do you really need all the other stuff?)
 6. "Blue Christmas", Elvis Presley
 5. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman / We Three Kings", Barenaked Ladies Feat. Sarah McLachlan
 4. "Carol of the Bells", Peter Griffin
 3. "Christmas at Ground Zero", Weird Al (It's not quite as funny since 9/11.)
 2. "Little Drummer Boy", David Bowie and Bing Crosby
 1. "White Christmas", Bing Crosby (A classic, beloved only by me and 50 million others.  Last year  I watched the movie "Holiday Inn" that introduced the song.  It's a pretty good flick if you can get past the 1940s-style hokeyness... and the horribly offensive blackface number.) 
 


[I really wanted to put this clip from "Holiday Inn" in, but embedding was disabled.]

Well, until next time...

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Entry 148: Old Aches And Pains

Oh boy, I feel like Luke Appling this morning.  I'm sure I don't have to explain this reference, but I will anyway.  Luke Appling* was a WWII-era baseball player; he was very good (Hall of Famer), but he complained frequently to teammates about minor physical ailments, earning him the nickname "Old Aches And Pains".  I did an MMA workout DVD yesterday that I haven't done in a while -- it exercises a lot of muscle groups I don't normally work (believe it or not, combo punching and fence walking aren't part of my daily routine) -- and I woke up this morning embarrassingly stiff and achy.  I struggled to bend over to put my socks on.  I'm not even old yet.


I also seem to have something (hopefully) minor going on with my ENT system.  I have a bit of a sore throat, a bit of a runny nose, and a bit of an earache.  I'm slightly paranoid it's strep throat because a friend of mine whom I was in close proximity to last week has strep, but I'm not exhibiting the symptoms of strep, and I was feeling fine for nearly a week after contact, so rationally I really don't think that's it.  S started getting a sore throat last night too, and since she's more cautious than I am, she's going to the doctor.  I'll wait to hear her diagnosis before I do anything.  I really think it's just a minor bug; I normally wouldn't even think twice about it, but with a little, vulnerable (and adorable) baby in the house your brain can't help but wander to the worst.

We were feeling well enough to go to S's company holiday party last night.  It was a huge scale-back from the one last year, but still alright.  Free food and subsidized booze are always good.  The music they were playing made me think of Adam Carolla who's always complaining that the music of 22-year old club kids has somehow become the sound track of our lives.  It's completely true.  Last night for instance, the average age of the people in attendance was probably around 48, and yet the Pitbulls and the Taio Cruzes and the LMFAOs and whatever else shitty electronic/club/dance/remix music the kids are listening to was just blaring through the speakers.  Heaven forbid a little jazz is played, or if people want to dance (there was a dance floor), how about some Motown, or some Michael (child molesting aside, he was one hell of a performer), something with a little soul to it that people over 25 might enjoy, instead of that *ootz, ootz, ootz, ootz, poppin', ootz, ootz, ootz, Cristal, ootz, ootz, ootz, money, ootz, ootz, ootz, booties* garbage.


[Speaking of today's dance music, this is a pretty cool remake.]

I think what's going on is that bars play this type of music at night to drive away the fogies (who drink less, stay longer, and are decidely lamer than young people), and then it has a domino effect to the point where you're listening to Christina Aguilera at a business function.  The other day I walked by this establishment that's on the bottom floor of my office building.  During the night it's a quasi-sports bar, during the day it does lunch for business people.  I peeked through the window and there were about ten white people in there eating lunch and reading papers or fiddling with their phones.  Over the loudspeakers blaring, just absolutely blaring, I mean so loud I could hear it clearly from outside: Ke$ha "Tik Tok".  Because, you know, that's exactly what every middle-age, corporate whitey on a lunch break wants to listen to at 500 decibels.



Anyway, in other news, political news, the Republicans are up to their old tricks again, and by "their old tricks", I mean "being complete f**king ignoramuses".  Although to be fair, it's tough to say whether they're actually ignoramuses or whether they're just playing to the ignorant public.  They might not be dumb, they might be diabolical.  (I think the same thing of the talking heads on Fox News.  Yeah, they say stupid things, but they get paid a lot to do so.  They might not be stupid, just sellouts.  Their viewers on the other hand...) 

Take Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal for example; in a recent op-ed he warns of the dangers of the impending "fiscal cliff" -- a trigger of massive tax increases, drastic spending cuts, and contractionary debt reduction -- and then he calls for... wait for it... spending cuts and debt reduction!  No, seriously, read it (my favorite part is that it's written as if he's the smartest guy in the room, proposing common sense solutions that those Washington bureaucrats could just never go for).  Does Jindal really not understand the economics of the fiscal cliff, or is he just using it to scare people who don't follow economics closely into siding with him?


[Update: S just texted me from the doctor's saying that she doesn't have "Streep", so it's all good.]

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell pulled off a gem of his own when he filibustered his own proposal.  He moved to put a proposal on the debt ceiling (not be confused with the fiscal cliff) to a straight up-and-down vote, and then when majority leader Harry Reid agreed, McConnell said that actually a super majority of 60 votes would be needed, denying the chance for what he had just suggested to go into action.  Apparently McConnell thought the Dems wouldn't go for his up-and-down vote, and this would make Obama look bad, because the to-be-voted-on proposal is favored by the White House (presumably McConnell would've gone public saying that not even Senate Dems favored the president's position).  Instead his bluff was called, and he embarrassingly had to reveal his two-six off-suit.

Not that this matters that much.  Liberals will make fun of him, and the youtube clip will get some views, but his supporters will find a way to rationalize and justify his actions.  That's really the "strength" of the Republican party.  Blind faith.  It doesn't matter how wrong a Republican is, as long as he or she continually hits the key beats on his or her idiotic drum -- low taxes, free market, pro-life, Obama's a socialist, small government, so on and so on -- they'll be supported.  Actually being able to think objectively and come to one's own fact-based conclusions isn't necessary, and in fact, it's generally discouraged.  Don't take my word for it.  Take former Republican operative Bruce Bartlett's.  Seriously, read the linked article, it's excellent.

That's all for this week.  Until next time...

*One of Appling's notable achievements is hitting a home run in a 1982 exhibition game as a 75-year old man.  I was so impressed with this story until I recently found out that the fences were moved way in for the game, and the ball only traveled 250 feet, well within the confines of a typical ballpark.  It's still kinda impressive, but it's like me saying I could dunk in junior high, because I could... on an eight-foot hoop.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Entry 147: Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Feeling a little groggy today.  I did that thing where you wake up in no man's land (for me it's around 7:00 a.m.) and you have to decide whether or not you just get up and be a little tired throughout the day, or whether or not you try to fall back asleep despite the fact that you can hear other people awake in the house.  I went with the latter, and apparently it was a good decision, as I manged to fall back sleep until nearly 11 -- paying off the sleep debt that accrues throughout the week, I guess -- but now I'm in that post-slept-in daze.  Oh well, it's better than the painfully-tired daze.



Anyway, last week I had a nice little vacation.  I took the entire week off as well as Monday this week.  The Sunday before Thanksgiving my friend JY, his wife CC, and their 9-year old boy IY came to visit for a few days.  On Thanksgiving I drove with S, S's mom, and Lil' S down to South Carolina (S's parents' home when S's mom isn't staying with us) to visit a bunch of family on S's side for a few days.  Coincidentally, CC's dad and step-mom also live in South Carolina only a few miles from S's parents, so JY and family also drove there the day before Thanksgiving.

It was great to see JY (especially since I won't be going to Sea-Tac for Xmas, which is when I usually see him).  On Monday, we basically recreated the trip I took with my family in June.  Thankfully this time it wasn't 104,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit outside and nobody nearly passed out from heat stroke; quite the opposite, it was a bit on the nippy side.  Also, the reflecting pool was actually filled in and there was no construction going on like in the summer.  This is good because it made our Forrest Gump references a little more poignant.



We met up with a friend of IY and his mom -- they recently moved to the DC area from Seattle -- and we strolled around the National Mall for a bit; well, for IY and his friend it was really more of a wrestle than a stroll, but you get my point.  We saw all the memorials in the area (Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean War, WWII), and then we hit up the Natural History Museum.


IY went into a 9-year old snit at the museum.  He wanted to see an IMAX movie, which JY agreed to, thinking it was just like a 15-minute presentation that's part of the typical museum admission, but it's actually a full-length movie that you have to buy tickets for and all that, so JY had to recant his agreement for time reasons, and this put IY into an inconsolable stew.  He did that thing that all little kids (and sadly many adults) do when they're upset -- pout and make it a point to demonstrate just how aggrieved they are.  It him in a weird bind because there are dinosaur skeletons and giant sea creatures and sparkling gems and all this cool stuff around to look at (especially for a kid his age), but he had to pretend like wasn't enjoying it, which to his "credit" he managed to do for quite a while.  Finally, he broke down though and told his dad, "I really like all this stuff.  I'm just doing this because."  To which his dad replied, "I know.  Now, knock it off."  And after that everything was good.  A great thing about kids is that they usually don't hold grudges for very long.


After the museum we went to the Metro Center part of town for lunch.  I envisioned sitting down somewhere, being waited on, and maybe even having a beer.  I suggested a pizzeria I know in the area.  But as it turns out, IY's friend can't eat gluten so that was out.  So annoying.  Being married to a vegetarian (a picky one at that) I already feel like I spend way too much of my time trying to find an accommodating eatery.  This is one area where S has it easier than me -- if she's making or buying dinner, she can literally make or buy anything and I'll eat it (and almost always enjoy it) -- she doesn't even have to ask me.  If I'm making or buying dinner, I have to be so precise about it or she won't eat it.  Anyway, we ended up eating at Pret A Manger, which is a quasi-fast food sandwich shop.  It was OK, but there was no place to sit; it wasn't very relaxing, but so it goes.

Next we went to Ford's Theater which I've never been to before (I tried to go with my parents once but it was closed).  It was pretty cool.  I never really knew the details behind Lincoln's assassination -- for instance, I didn't know John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor, which is how he was able to access the presidential box in the theater -- so it was cool to learn.  IY liked it, but he fell asleep during the lecture part of the tour.  To be fair, so did I for a few minutes  What?  I woke up early and did a lot of walking.

  [It's a little dark, but this is the box where President Lincoln was assassinated.]

Just before the South Carolina leg of my vacation I came down with a pretty bad cold, ironic since I had just been bragging to JY about how seldom I get sick.  I thought about not even going to SC, because I didn't want to get everybody else sick, but S wanted me to go, if only to help out with the drive (3 adults vs. 1 baby on an 8-hour drive -- advantage baby), so I went; it's not like I wanted to spend Thanksgiving by myself anyway.  It ended up being fine.  I started feeling better pretty quickly, and I don't think anybody else really caught my bug.  Lil' S got a bit congested, we could hear some phlegm when he breathed, but it was nothing some elevation and a little Baby Vick's Vapor Rub couldn't handle.  It's kinda good to expose him to some common sicknesses now, get his immune system working -- at least that's what I tell myself.

S has two little girl cousins (ages 7 and 3, they are S's cousin's kids to be exact, Lil' S's second cousins) who were in SC with us.  They are a lot of fun, but they are relentless in wanting you to play with them.  And they always want to play whatever game expends the most energy and makes the most noise, usually some sort of chasing game.  They also want to "play" with the baby, meaning they want to poke and pull and prod at him.  You end up doing a lot, "OK... That's enough... I don't think he likes... OK, be nice... Don't... Just leave him..." when they're near him.  I taught the oldest one how to play chess, so that we could do a nice, quiet, consuming activity for a while.  She mostly understood.  She was good for about 15 minutes, and then after that she'd start getting bored and start trying to move the pieces illegally to capture all your men.  She called bishops "bishers" which was cute.

On Saturday JY and I ditched the families and spent the day in Clemson for the Clemson vs. South Carolina football game.  Neither of us had a rooting interest in the game (he's an Oregon Ducks fan, I'm a college football agnostic), but we heard SEC football games were off the hook, so we wanted to check one out.  Honestly, it wasn't really anything more crazy than any other big college game I've been to -- pretty much the same atmosphere as UW and U of O.


We had these crazy nosebleed seats where the benches didn't have backs and pretty much everybody stood for the entire game.  The game wasn't boring, but it wasn't particularly exciting either (SC won fairly decisively).  The most action came in the row in front of us where two chesty college kids started jawing at each other.  There were a lot of "What are you going to do"s and "C'mon, then, bitch"s and "You ain't nothing"s thrown about.  One of the kids looked like he was about 5' 3" and the other wasn't much bigger.  I had a fantasy of lunging forward and shoving both of them down the steep stadium tier -- it would have been so easy.  Ultimately their girlfriends stepped in to play peacemakers, and the stadium police stopped by for a chat at some point, but nothing came of it.  Or if it did, JY and I missed it, because we left early.  I'm not a huge fan of leaving sporting events before they're over (why even go), but I must admit there's something very satisfying about walking past the rows of parked cars, knowing that you'll be out of the vicinity in a few minutes while everybody else will be stuck for hours.  It's like evacuating a hurricane's path just before the storm comes.

Well, that's all for this week.  Until next time...